According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the prevalence of childhood obesity has increased at an alarming rate globally. In 2016, the number of overweight children under the age of five was estimated to be over 41 million.Southeast Asia has seen an upward trend in childhood obesity during the last 10 to 15 years. An estimated 6.6 million children under five years are currently overweight in the region.
Despite the low rate of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Vietnam since 10 March 2020, Vietnamese schools remain shut and the country is feeling the pinch on its socio and economic development.
With malaria and tuberculosis (TB) screening out front and sacrifices to jungle gods out back, health worker Htan Pi and her shaman mother are an unlikely double-act in their isolated Myanmar village.Their family have been the local healers for generations in the northern community of Satpalaw Shaung near the Indian border. This is Naga territory, a tribal region of former headhunters with myriad languages and customs still largely based on animist beliefs.But trainee Htan Pi, 24, is
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, all eyes are on China and its response to containing the spread of the virus. On 31 December, 2019, the Chinese government reported that it was treating dozens of patients infected with a new virus. Just two weeks later, the first death was reported. As of today, more than 114,000 cases have been confirmed, of which 5,800 are classified as serious.
Basketball superstar LeBron James said he won't play if his Los Angeles Lakers have to hold games behind closed doors due to the coronavirus outbreak."If I show up to the arena and there ain't no fans in the crowd, then I ain't playing.
An Indonesian official is facing possible sanctions Thursday after she warned women they could get pregnant by swimming in a pool where a man with "strong sperm" had ejaculated.Sitti Hikmawatty, a child protection commission member, drew controversy and online ridicule after her unscientific comments to a major media outlet last week."In a swimming pool, there's a certain kind of sperm that is very strong," Hikmawatty told Tribunnews.com during a video interview about
According to Malaysia's Health Ministry's (KKM) Guide to Nutrition Labelling and Claims, manufacturers must be aware of nutrient content claims and the conditions for their use. For example, one of the conditions listed in the guide states that the food product must contain a range of nutrients including carbohydrates, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals for it to be labelled as "nutritious." Marketing strategies are sometimes developed to bypass legal re
The deadly coronavirus epidemic could put an already fragile global economic recovery at risk, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Sunday, as G20 financial chiefs voiced "real concern" over its economic ripple effects.Global growth was poised for a modest rebound to 3.3 percent this year, up from 2.9 percent last year, IMF chief Kristalina Georgieva said after a two-day meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Riyadh.But the projected recovery was &quo
China's efforts to control the deadly outbreak of a new coronavirus "are working", Beijing's top diplomat said Thursday, attributing an easing in new cases to his country's "forceful action" against the illness.Speaking in Lao before talks with peers from the 10 Southeast Asian (ASEAN) countries, Wang Yi said the outbreak was "controllable and curable" despite the global panic it has seeded."China is not only protecting its own people
Elephant parks unvisited, curios at markets unsold as tuk-tuks sit idle: Southeast Asia is facing billions of dollars in losses from a collapse in Chinese tourism since the outbreak of a deadly new coronavirus.From Luang Prabang in northern Laos to Pattaya in Thailand, Hoi An in Vietnam and the Cambodian casino town of Sihanoukville, takings have plummeted as Chinese travellers find themselves subject to a host of restrictions at home and abroad."We haven't had any Chinese for 10 da
Scientists from the United States (US) to Australia are using new technology in an ambitious, multi-million-dollar drive to develop a vaccine in record time to tackle China's coronavirus outbreak. The new virus has spread rapidly since emerging late last year in China, killing more than 800 people in the mainland and infecting over 37,000.
With major cities in full or partial lockdown, China is preparing for unprecedented market fluctuations as fear of the novel coronavirus amplifies and the death toll soars to over 560 – nearly double the death toll in mainland China from the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) virus that broke out in 2002.As airlines halt flights, stores close and businesses scale back their operations, China's economy is at risk of major setbacks.
